CuO particles from ionic liquid/water mixtures: evidence for growth via Cu(OH)2 nanorod assembly and fusion.
Tetrabutylammonium hydroxide/water mixtures are efficient reaction media for the fabrication of nanoscale metal oxides and hydroxides. Uniform CuO nanoplates, among others, can be grown on a large scale. This work shows that after 30 s at temperatures above 40 degrees C, CuO formation is already essentially complete. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) show that the resulting plates form via a two-step process, where Cu(OH) 2 rods precipitate first. These rods aggregate and fuse into plates with a width/height ratio of about 1.9. High-resolution TEM and electron diffraction show that the plates are single crystals and exhibit only some defects, which most likely originate from the assembly and fusion of the primary rods.
Taubert
Andreas
A
Institute of Chemistry, University of Potsdam, D-14476 Golm, Germany.
Uhlmann
Annett
A
Hedderich
Annett
A
Kirchhoff
Katrin
K